EVRPD expresses interest in 'thumb and needle' property

By Claire Woodcock

Trail-Gazette

Posted:
09/24/2018 10:09:29 AM MDT

On Tuesday, the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District (EVRPD) Board of Directors requested additional information to inform their decision to partner with the Estes Valley Land Trust (EVLT) for EVRPD to own and manage the "thumb and needle" portion of Prospect Mountain.

For two years, EVLT and EVRPD staff have been considering how the land could be purchased and made available to the public. The vision for the 65-acre parcel on the southeast side of the mountain is for it to be a seasonal primitive-style park for hikers, bikers and climbers.

"The land is owned by a family in Nebraska," Jeffrey Boring, Executive Director of EVLT said. "It's privately held. So any kind of activity on the property is trespass, and to be quite honest with you, it's easy to get away with that."

EVLT received an appraisal for the property and has been discussing a five percent discount on the land with the owner. This land has been popular among climbers and hikers for years. The property is not yet on the market. Boring said the owner is willing to give a letter of intent and the time needed to raise the funds.

But if partners do not sign on, the landowner will sell to another buyer and the destination would go away. EVRPD Executive Director Tom Carosello noted the expansion opportunity for outdoor programming could benefit the District. He also said the District would need to work with partners in order to close the sale.

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"I like the idea," EVRPD Board Chair Ron Duell said. "I think it's important to the town and the county or anybody else we could find to partner with us because we don't have the money. But I think it would be a pretty cool idea."

Although EVRPD Board Secretary Stan Gengler agreed to look at more information on the acquisition cost, he expressed concern with both the acquisition and maintenance costs because EVRPD has work to do on its current facilities.

"Should we be expanding or should we not be expanding," he said. "The concept's good, I don't have a problem with the concept. "I'm struggling here, putting money aside, to say how do we address that?"

At the start of the meeting during public comment, tennis players at the Estes Valley Community Center (EVCC) asked the Board to replace the asphalt tennis courts with post-tensioned concrete. Carosello said replacing the four, upper asphalt tennis courts with post-tension concrete would cost between $200,000 and $250,000.

During his board report, Carosello said Town of Estes Park Engineering Manager David Hook asked recently if EVRPD would be willing to commit another $200,000 to phase two of the Fall River Trail extension effort.

"I said 'Look, we've got $400,000 into this, we're going through capital planning, we don't have it this year, we're getting close into the reserve, past the reverse minimum.'" he said.

He indicated the money would not be needed until construction started in 2020 or 2021.

EVRPD Finance Director Mary Davis said the District is on track with finances, but not with EVCC revenue.

"I have to keep reminding myself that we're only six months in," she said. "But at the same time I do see a trend and we need to jump on it right away and try to control expenses and try to figure out where else we need to reach out for revenue."

EVRPD hasn't been asked to contribute any funding toward the potential purchase of the thumb and needle property up to this point. But if the current asking price of approximately $800,000 holds, the match required by a GOCO grant, if split four ways among partners, would equate to between $75,000 and $120,000.

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